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Turkish Journal of Zoology

DOI

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Abstract

In order to determine the macrobenthic invertebrate fauna of Lake Eğrigöl, located at 2000 m in the central Taurus Mountains, 4 field studies were conducted between June and September, 2000, and June and September, 2001. The specimens were obtained by collection of mud samples using an Ekman-Birge grab and by sifting with a fine 500 µm sieve, and were preserved in 4% formaldehyde solution. Additional samplings were also performed from the shore with hand nets with a mesh size of 180 µm. On average, 1036 benthic invertebrate specimens were found per square meter in Lake Eğrigöl; 939 of these specimens were oligochaets, 95 were chironomid larvae and 2 were chaoborid larvae. With regard to the rational distribution of these groups, oligochaets were the predominant group with 90.64%, followed by chironomid larvae (9.17%) and chaoborid larvae (0.19%). With regard to the rational distribution of these groups by station, Station 4 (25.90%) was the richest and Station 3 (15.05%) the poorest. Since all, the mollusk specimens from the mud samples were already dead and their shells were decalcified, mollusk species are not included in the averages. Amphipod specimens were sampled from a spring just beyond the lake, and Decapoda specimens sampled from the shore are also not included in the averages. As a result of samplings performed from each meter from the shore to 9 m in depth in the first station, the maximum number of specimens was found at the seventh meter. It was also noticed that oligochaets were abundant at the seventh and eighth meters, whereas chironomids were abundant at the second and sixth meters. The abundances of the groups in respect of months were analyzed using the chi-square test and differences between distributions of the groups according to depths were analyzed using 2-way variance analysis. All of the determined taxa were first records from the lake. Furthermore, Potamothrix moldaviensis (Oligochaeta) is reported from Turkey for the first time.

Keywords

Lake Eğrigöl, Taurus Mountains, benthos, fauna, Turkey

First Page

275

Last Page

282

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